The Arizona Cardinals, with quarterback Kyler Murray, will have an added facet to their offense. Murray is a great runner and is able to extend plays outside the pocket if things break down.
Such improvisation doesn’t happen by accident. The Cardinals have to practice for it.
Cardinals wide receivers coach David Raih talked about the concepts on the Coaches Chronicle podcast.
He explained there are two phases to a passing play.
“The platform phase is in the pocket and then once (Murray) breaks the pocket and breaks contain, now we’re in Phase 2 and what we need to see on the practice field is a huge increase of urgency when that happens,” he said.
Both Raih and quarterbacks coach Tom Clements came from the Green Bay Packers, where Aaron Rodgers is one of the absolute best at making plays off script. They are bringing that knowledge and preparation to the Cardinals.
“Tom gave us some great parameters for how we are going to start to work that,” Raih said. “We did it in Green Bay. As you know, Aaron is very good at it and so Kyler, we will train him in a similar fashion. We will train the perimeter (receivers) in a similar fashion.
“But the only way to get better at it is during practice.”
Rodgers and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson are perhaps the two best at extending plays and making something happen. It doesn’t happen by accident. Everyone on the offense has to know how to treat plays like that.
Murray, the offensive line and the receivers down the field will have to know where to go when things break down. Between Murray’s abilities and the preparation the Cardinals will put into the protocol for broken down plays, it will be exciting to see how it plays out.
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